Google upgrades Universal Commerce Protocol; adds retail AI tools
Google is expanding the functionality of its open-source agentic commerce standard and giving retailers new artificial intelligence capabilities.
The tech giant is updating the Universal Commerce Protocol in its Merchant Center. UCP, an open standard for agentic AI-based commerce intended to cover the entire shopping journey from discovery and buying to post-purchase support, has already been enabling direct checkout for brands and retailers using it.
Now, retailers who use the Google Merchant Center for UCP-enabled checkout can also enable capabilities like cart transfer to a retailer site and enhanced checkout flow testing, with analytics and more coming soon. The new capabilities are gradually rolling out in the U.S., with Australia and Canada to follow early in 2027.
Tapestry Inc., parent company of fashion brands such as Kate Spade and Coach, has been able to integrate UCP-based checkout on Google and make select products from those brands purchasable directly from Google Search, including AI Mode and the Gemini agentic AI app, in time for the holiday shopping season.
[READ MORE: Tapestry enables direct Google AI purchase of Coach, Kate Spade items]
Other new retail AI solutions released by Google include:
AI performance insights
Retailers in the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, and New Zealand using Merchant Center now have access to an AI performance insights feature giving them a view of how their brand and products are being discovered by comparing their share of voice with other brands across Google surfaces like AI Mode and AI Overviews.
Conversational shopping on YouTube
Google is conducting a beta test of a feature called Business Agent that was released earlier this year in search to see how it works in YouTube. Eligible U.S. retailers that sign up will have the tool embed directly in their YouTube ads, enabling viewers to conduct self-driven research, ask complex product questions, and receive tailored guidance without leaving their YouTube context.
During testing with Lululemon, Google says conversational attributes submitted from the brand were incorporated 50% of the time in relevant product recommendations in AI Mode.
Connected loyalty data
Retailers can connect their loyalty data in Merchant Center to showcase perks like free shipping, drive multiple visits from signed-in members, and steer bids toward their highest-value shoppers.
“Backed by an optimized product feed, putting these updates to work helps ensure your business is prepared to turn gifting inspiration into conversions, “Ashish Gupta, VP/GM, merchant shopping, Google, said in a corporate blog post.
